A MAN who was told by doctors he "wouldn’t live past 30" due to his weight, is now a professional fitness coach. Alex from New York once weighed 365lbs and would play video games for up to 16 hours a day, living off a diet of junk food. He also used to avoid mirrors as he was ashamed of his size. After being warned by a doctor that he wouldn't live past 30, Alex began doing "whatever it took to lose weight", and lost over 100lbs. Most recently, Alex quit his regular career to be an online fitness coach.
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00:00I went to my doctor. He said, if you keep going down the same path, you won't live to be past 30.
00:05It was a literally do or die and that's when I took my life into my own hands and I started to
00:10do whatever it took to lose weight. At my heaviest, I weighed 365 pounds. At my lowest weight, I got
00:17down to 230 pounds. I used to avoid mirrors and now I just look myself in the mirror and I feel
00:23confident, feel happy.
00:28Growing up overweight was very difficult. I was born in Ukraine. My parents are Russian
00:34and so coming to this country, I had no idea what the language is. Being overweight didn't
00:39help the matter. So they used to pick on me, my clothes, my appearance, my accent. I was always
00:44secluded. I was always by myself. It was so easy to play video games for 16 hours a day,
00:51obviously skipping school, and then picking up the phone, ordering whatever my heart desired.
00:57I would just sit there and I would eat without any care in the world of what this food is doing
01:02to me. Aside from all the self-esteem, confidence issues, just doing everyday daily activities was
01:10very difficult for me. Things like walking up a flight of stairs, maybe carrying groceries from
01:15the supermarket. I used to be drenched in sweat. It all came together to the point where it was
01:20just normal for me. The turning point was when I went to my doctor. He said, at this weight,
01:28if you keep going down the same path, you won't live to be past 30. It was a literally
01:35do or die. It's either you do this and you lose weight or you die in the next few years.
01:43That's when I took my life into my own hand and I started to do whatever it took to lose weight.
01:50At my heaviest, I weighed 365 pounds. At my lowest weight, I got down to 230 pounds.
01:59I work out about six times a week. I have a routine. I have momentum. It's what I enjoy
02:06and I love it. I was so focused on that number that I never felt satisfied with myself,
02:11but you have to just appreciate yourself. Any single small win, maybe it's you're looking
02:16better in the mirror. You should celebrate that. I used to avoid mirrors. I used to avoid
02:21photographs, videos, any type of media like that. Now, I just look at myself in the mirror and I
02:27feel accomplished. I feel happy. Right now, I'm going to go on Facebook Live and I share people
02:35realistic advice on how to just lose weight the right way. I provide as much information as I can
02:41just so people can take that and just improve their life with it. A few months ago, I left my
02:47regular career to be an online weight loss coach. I know how hard life is when you're overweight.
02:54Welcome to our daily dose where every single day, I'll be sharing some tips and some advice on how
02:58to just reach your weight loss goal in the simplest and easiest way possible. I feel like
03:02it's important for me to help people live the life they deserve and transform their bodies and their
03:06mind because I wish I would have had somebody help me when I was talking out. Now, your whole
03:12journey should have, you know, a factor of how do I include the things that I love? How do I eat the
03:17foods that I enjoy? Vlad is one of my best friends and I've known him for over, I would say, 15 years
03:25and he's been with me every single step of the way. I'm gonna cook for him a meal that I haven't
03:30made for him before. It's actually been a stable in my nutrition for about 8 to 10 years. I have
03:36helped him lose weight previously because I feel like it's my duty to at least help some of my
03:42friends go in the right direction because I've been there myself. Wow, I remember you were only
03:48eating like Chinese food and pizzas. This is so different. It's all about making every meal taste
03:54as enjoyable as possible whether it's by adding different seasonings that you like, different
03:59sauces, right? Not making you feel like eating better is a chore because if it feels like a chore
04:05every single day, how long can you do it for? Looks great, thanks. You overdid it with the sriracha.
04:14Sriracha is key to any hot sauce. Flavor is key.
04:20How's the eggs? Awesome. You might have overdone it on your secret sauce a little bit. I've been
04:25eating that sauce for almost a decade. To me, that's like almost nothing. The more, the merrier.
04:30Alex and I met back in third grade. As the years went by, I remember seeing him getting larger and
04:38larger. I saw him at his, you know, worst, like his heaviest, his biggest and now I'm seeing him as
04:45at his best. I do believe that Alex's transition and his focus on his physical health
04:53completely changed his mental health. He is much more confident in everything he does.
04:59For my next goals, I just want to impact as many people as I can. I love helping people lose weight,
05:05honestly. It makes me feel great. Not even the weight loss, but just the way they feel. Even if
05:10I can help one person just become better and just live the life they deserve, that alone makes me
05:17feel accomplished. I just want to be like a little better than I was yesterday. Little by little,
05:22it'll add up over time. It's my motto, I guess, just a little bit better.